


Pinewood

by orphan_account



Category: Gravity Falls, Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon)
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, POV Multiple, fairy tale horror, wirt starts out as the bad guy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-02 13:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5249354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Wirt accepted the deal with the beast and is now the carrier of the lantern. He would do anything to keep the light lit in order to "keep Greg alive".<br/>The years pass until 2012, when two mysterious children get lost in the woods. New fuel for the fire or maybe a chance to break the circle?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Summer is over

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before catching up with the episode "Weirdmageddon", so it's technically already outdated as I post this but I wanted to share it anyway. ^^
> 
> To avoid confusions: This is a version in which Wirt took the deal with the beast to save Greg and thinks he is trapped inside the lantern.  
> I just wanted to try out how things could have gone from there.

   
It was all over.

Stan kept his hands over his head and both eyes closed.  
Just one moment ago the sky had ripped open above them and everything had been screaming in tongues he never heard before.

Just one moment ago he had tried to hold Mabel back by her wrist. But somehow she slipped his grip and headed towards her brother.  
Dipper had been standing right in front of the dream demon. Stan tried to tell them to get away from the triangle but his voice had gone under in the indescribable noise.  
Then there was a flash of white not unlike the one when his brother came back. His brother who was nowhere to be seen the whole time.  
Stan had probably passed out. (He really wasn't sure.)  
  
And now it was all gone.

Was he dead? (If he was then why did his back still ache like that?)  
The ground beneath him felt soft and familiar, slowly soaking through his clothes.  
His fingers run over wet moss and pine needles.  
Stan opened first one eye, then the other. He was in the same forest, in the same glade but now completely alone.  
He remembered once seeing a documentary about earthquakes and how people spoke of a loud silence right after the disaster. Up until now he had never quite gotten what they meant by that.

 Silence can be the loudest of all noises.  
  
But even more irritating than the absence of any sound was the absence of the kids.  
With some effort Stan got back up to his feet.  
"Mabel!" he called at the once again normal sky (but no one answered).  
"Dipper!" he shouted towards the trees (but no one answered).  
Stan kicked against a rock in frustration. With the only result that his foot hurt as well now.  
The thick midsummer air made his breath heavy and swarms of midges were dancing in front of his face.  
  
He changed his direction. He might not have a clue what happened but he knew someone who sure would.  
"I hope you have a damn good explanation for this, brother heart!" He growled as he made his way back towards the shack.

 

* * *

 

The sky was the color of bluebird feathers.  
  
The woods were empty, except for a boy in a red cape and a pointing hat, sitting under an oak.  
The boy looked up into the sky, feeling just as blue.

It was autumn. It was autumn most of the time, here.  
Seasons didn't really make sense and it seemed like this whole world mostly agreed on it being harvest.  
The time when the people of Potsfield came out to dance and there was always life going on inside the tavern.

The lantern flickered on the ground next to his feet. He never let it out of his reach, not even when he was sleeping.  
In the dim daylight the treetops let through you could see the flame dance and how it was slowly going out.  
The boy cracked a branch from the ground and threw it inside, knowing it was no use.  
He would need special wood to keep the flame alive. And he would need it soon.

Then there was a movement in the air. Cloths rustling like feathers, the way only old fashioned dresses could.  
He turned his head towards the girl.  
She looked as if she had stepped out of a sad poem. Eyes like the leaves in spring and hair like the fires in the harvest. A dress like the sky in summer and skin like the snowy ground in winter... If only she never opened her mouth.

"Are you dreaming again? I went looking everywhere for you."  
"Beatrice. What's up?"  
  
The girl paused, as if she considered just disappearing back between the trees again.  
"I probably shouldn't be telling you, but I think you deserve to know. There are... whispers all over the forest."

He rolled his eyes. "Can you be a bit more specific? There are always whispers in this forest."  
"They say there are two children wandering around. Lost children."  
"Children, you say." The boy got up from his place under the oak. One hand holding the lantern, the other reaching for his axe.  
"What direction?"

 

* * *

 

The elevator to the basement opened with a hollow sound and some glasses in the shelves started to jangle from the stamping of angry feet.  
Stanford didn't need to look up from his papers. He knew only one person who could walk like that.

"Ford!" He continued scribbling down numbers. He didn't need any distractions right now and he knew that this particular distraction would be completely useless.  
He had almost forgotten to include the force of gravity into his formula (and they had all experienced how the outcome of such a mistake could look.)

"Where are the kids, Ford?" The voice of his brother was loud. Way to loud. He needed to focus.  
"I asked you for one thing. To stay away from them and what happens?"

Stanford still didn't answer. He had to take the force of gravity into the formula and then.. "Are you even listening? Where. Are. They?"

He didn't look up from the paper. His hand gripping the pencil a little harder. "You might not have seen me back there but I was watching as well. Using a new device I.." - "Skip it to the part where you explain where they are!"  
Ford exhaled.  
"Well, I don't really understand it myself. It's something only a part of the wheel could do. To make it easy. They shot the door to Cypher's dimension. But by slipping through. Meaning they're trapped in some other dimension now. " - "Ok, then what are you waiting for?"  
 Stanly gave one of his sensitive instruments a clap that made Ford twitch in anger.  
"Throw this thing on and let's get them."  
"It's not that simple. I'm not going to risk destroying the world another time. The machine stays off." - "So, you want to leave them to their faith and just do nothing?"  
He shut his eyes, reminding himself to stay calm. "I don't know if you noticed, but I am doing something right now. "  
"You mean scribbling numbers on a paper? This isn't Dungeons and Dragons."  
"Scribbling numbers on a paper will help them more than whatever you are able to do." Not his smoothest move but he was slowly running out of patience.

"But there has to be something I can do!" For the first time Stanford looked up from his notes. "For starters, you could shut up and let me finish my work!"  
"Fine! If you don't want to help me I will figure something out myself. I brought you back already."

Something fell of a shelf with a shattering noise, when the door of the shack banged closed again. Stanford didn't check what it was.  
For a moment the feeling of guilt clouded his thoughts but he shook his head in order to stay focused.  
He wondered how much harm his brother might do in his emotional state. Given that he had the portal it couldn't be that bad.  
Stanly would calm down sooner or later. He always did.  
There was only one thing he could do now and it needed his full concentration.

He continued calculating. As long as they were just numbers on a paper, they couldn't hurt him.

 

* * *

 

Something was different.

Mabel looked up at the trees around them. She couldn't say what it was at first.  
They were still in a forest like they had been moments ago. (They had been in a forest, right?)

"Where are we?" Dipper looked about as confused as she felt. "In the woods? Gravity Falls, Oregon?" - "No, I mean.. where did we come from?  
There was Cypher and the transdimensional rift.. and.."

Cool air brushed her legs.  
It was only then, when Mabel finally realized what was different. Just moments ago it had been midsummer, but now the leafs were full in color. What the hell?

"We should get to the shack. What direction was it?" She hoped her brother would have the answer. He always had an answer and when he hadn't, he could pull the journal out of his backpack and look it up. Only yesterday she would have wished he never found these books but now she wanted their help more than ever.

Dipper turned in a circle. "The shack stands in a pine forest, Mabel. These are all oaks and maple trees." She laughed a thin laugh that went wide through the empty woods. "Well, then we just have to find back to the pines. How hard can that be?"  
She started to walk into the direction that seemed the least deep and scary.

It was slowly getting dark and she refused to think about what they would do if they didn't make it back before night time.

They passed a group of trees, where someone had carved words into the bark. "What does it say?" Mabel run a hand over the lines. "It says: _You look nice today._  
And this one reads: _I really like that sweater._ "  
Her brother looked at the trunk as if it had actually spoken. "That seems odd. Let's head into the other direction." The wind brushed through the trees and for one moment it felt as if she could hear voices between the rustling of dry leaves.  
"Come on, Mabel!" She followed her brother into the opposite direction.

Slowly the trees turned into thick, dark lines and it became hard not to stumble over their roots.

When Dipper stopped right in front of her, she nearly ran into him. "Look, over there! It's a house." She looked up at a building right next to a river. Apparently it was something like a mill. "Maybe we can spend the night there and ask for directions."  
Dipper hesitated. "It looks abandoned, we can't just go in there. What if the housekeeper thinks we're burglars?"  
But she was already on the way to the stream, where the house stood. "Would you rather sleep out here?"

The door wasn't locked and there didn't seem to be anyone inside.  
"I'll go, see if there is someone upstairs." Her first impulse was to follow Dipper up but then something else caught her attention. Something outside the window.  
"Wait! Someone is coming." But Dipper was already gone.

There was a flickering light like from a fire between the trees. As the shine came closer she could recognize a shape that looked like some sort of gigantic gnome.  
That was a good sign, right? If there was a gnome, they couldn't be that far from the shack.  
She wouldn't have thought that she would ever be happy to see one of these creatures.  
The shilouette was now right in front of the window. Was this really a gnome? He seemed more like a normal teenager in weird clothes.  
The boy-gnome knocked against the window and she slid it open.  
"Hello. Are you lost?"  
He had an axe, but with his mellow face and slender figure he didn't seem threatening at all.  
"Yes. My brother and I are looking for the way to Gravity Falls. Do you know where it is?"  
He didn't answer her question. Instead he nervously turned around. "You can not stay here!"- "Why not?"  
"The man who owns this house is very dangerous. He went out hunting, but he will be back any second now."  
Well, that didn't sound inviting.  
She should go get Dipper and then leave this place. She didn't care where they would go. Just.. not this empty house in the middle of nowhere.

That moment Dipper entered the room, followed by a tall man. The strange man stopped, standing between them and the way out.  
He had an axe as well and in contrast to the boy, he seemed threatening.

"You?" His eyes fixed immediately the gnome-boy. "Get away from my house, now!"  
Mabel made a step forward.  
There was something thick and black dripping from the axe. She tried not to think too hard about what it could be.  
"We're very sorry. It's just we got lost in these woods and.." - "I don't help lost children anymore. You can ask him, why." He pointed the axe into the direction of the gnome who ducked away from the sight through the window.

"We were just about to leave." The man hesitated but then actually stepped away from the entrance and her brother slipped through, back into the night.  
Mabel was just about to get out as well, when she noted in terror that the man had gripped her arm. (The way Stan had done it just a few hours ago.)  
"Listen kid!" He whispered. "Stay away from that boy if you want to make it out of these woods." She managed a nod and the next moment she was free again and rushing outside.

"What happened?" She looked at her brother, then at the stranger. "Nothing. Just stumbled..."  
They walked deeper into the darkness, keeping close together, so they could find their way in the dim lantern light.  
Dipper hugged his backpack with the journal close to his chest.  
Only now she noticed that he had lost his hat. His birthmark was illuminated by the fluttering shine of the fire.

"What did he hunt?" The gnome-boy kept focused on the way as if it was actually possible to have orientation under this conditions. "Excuse me?"  
"The man. You said he was out hunting, but what sort of creature do you hunt with an axe?"

The boy didn't answer her right away. His eyes wandered from her brother's birthmark to the creaking trees. "A beast."

 


	2. An unknown song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters won't follow the places and events in the order of the episodes.  
> But this far, they do.. sort of.

Sometimes she missed having wings.  
Of course it was nice to have her own body back and human food tasted so much better than dirt.  
But when a bird passed over her head or the leafs moved in the wind she couldn't help but feel a sting of jealousy in her chest. (There were way too many birds and leafs in this forest.)

Beatrice sat in the garden and threw sticks for the dog.  
The garden was beautiful. The house was beautiful. And if she believed her mother, so was she. (Then why was she so sick of all of it?)  
Ever since she had met the boys. Since Greg disappeared, something felt false in this stunning world. Like it was rotten underneath.  
  
On the stony well, a blackbird started singing.  
Being human, Beatrice could still understand bluebirds. Once you knew their tunes you never quite forgot. But the blackbirds song was strangely unfamiliar.  
Less melodic. A foreign language she didn't understand and it annoyed her.  
If she had wings she could fly over to check after Wirt and still be back for dinner. Beatrice picked up a stone, weighing the cold surface in her palm for a few moments before dropping it into the grass again. The dog came sniffing but lost interest fast.  
"Curse you!" she said to no one in particular. (Or someone in particular who was too far away to hear it.) "Curse this whole world!"

She returned to the beautiful house.  
Her mother was used to her leaving for days or even weeks. She knew she'd always be back. (Whether she wanted to or not.)  
Still she should tell her before she went.  
Shortly after, she was on her way again. The dog followed her at first but after a few minutes he returned to the house. Just like her, he belonged there. Forever. Unchangeable.

Normally you could hear people approaching from far away on the dry soil but Beatrice's steps were nearly noiseless. She remembered something Wirt said about the way she walked once. "Your feet still haven't touched the ground yet," he had smiled. (He smiled way to seldom these days.)

Back in the garden the blackbird finished it's song.  
No one was listening.

 

* * *

   
Dipper awoke with a warm, comfortable feeling.

He needed a moment to fully return into reality. When he did, he found he had slept hand in hand with his sister. A bit embarrassed he pulled his arm back. (They were almost in high school after all.)

He looked up to find the elder boy sitting opposite them. Motionless but clearly watching him. Although it was already day break, the lantern was still burning next to his feet.  
With this image the events of the past day came back. The strange forest. The even stranger man.  
They had walked a while through the darkness but at some point just taken shelter between the trees.  
He must have fallen asleep.

Still not fully awake he got up and walked over to the elder boy. "You and your sister look about the same age. Are you.." - "Twins. Yes."  
"Interesting." Mabel, mumbled something and shifted in her sleep.  
"I'm Wirt, by the way and who are you?" - "My name is Dipper Pines and that's my sister Mabel."   
"Pines?" The boy named Wirt let out a hollow laugh. (Just silent enough so it didn't wake his sister.) "Well if that isn't some irony, there."

This answer confused Dipper. Normally it was his nick name people made fun of.  
He meant to ask what was ironic about it then reminded himself that there were more important questions right now. "Where are we? Do you know how we get back to Gravity Falls?"  
"We're in the Unknown. And getting back is.. Well, let's say it's not impossible but I can't show you the way. No one can, really."

Dipper reached for his hat only to remember he had lost it.  
Could this guy be any more cryptic? If they went on like this, they still wouldn't have made it home by Christmas.

"And what was the deal with this man yesterday? " - "The woodsman? He's going to follow us."  
"Follow us?" Mabel had woken up as well now. "But he chased us out of his house yesterday." - "True. But your presence will attract the Beast like fire a moth and he knows that. If he keeps our track he will find it sooner or later."  
The Beast. Another one of these things Dipper would like a clear answer on.  
"That sounds comforting. What is this Beast and what does it even want from us?"

But Wirt just stood up. "That's  enough questions for now. We've still got a long way to go if you want to sleep in a bed tonight."

 

* * *

 

He did not like the way the girl.. Mabel looked at him. He did not like the way it made him feel.  
There were many things Wirt did not like about this whole situation.  
How much could he tell them? And how was he supposed to explain the nature of the Unknown without sounding like a complete lunatic?

They passed by a sign saying "Potsfield" and Wirt hesitated for a moment.  
Maybe... this wasn't the worst place to start. Give them a little shock without putting them in any actual danger.  
Yes.  
Dipper looked a bit confused when he suddenly changed direction. "Do you even know where we are heading?"  
"Trust me. I've known this woods for quite a long time. We're just making a little stop there to show you something. Afterwards it will be easier explaining the whole Beast business."  
"Looking forward to that explanation."

They could already hear the music from the fields. It remembered him of when he first came here, what felt like years ago. (Maybe because it was?)  
"Make sure you don't step on any pumpkins."

This time he did not look around but headed towards the city centre, right away. The siblings followed him.  
"If we could stop by some house, we can call home," Mabel suggested. "Stan is going to be worried about us. "  
"That won't be possible. " - "What why?" - "No one in this place owns a phone."

"This is ridiculous." Dipper went over to the next house and knocked. "There has to be someone with reception. Or internet. This is the twenty first century, after all." (Wirt gulped.)  
After no one opened he turned around. "That proofs nothing. I've just got to find another house." - "Do that. When you have given up, we're in the barn  over there."

\--

"Oh, hey Wirt." One of the pumpkin people walked past them. "It's been a while."  
Somehow they weren't quite as scary anymore, once you knew their secret.

Maybe because it was so strange it couldn't get any worse, really.

"Ok, this place is super creepy if that was your point." Mabel looked around. "What else were you trying to prove?"  
Instead of an answer he searched the crowd. "Hello." He stopped a smaller person who passed them by.  
"Could you maybe take off your mask for a moment?" The person wore a dress and a straw wig over the mask. "Actually, I'd rather not," she answered in a soft voice.

"Oh, Come on." The first pumpkin joined them again. "I'm sure you have lovely bones."  
He looked at the girl for a while. "I'm sorry. Who are you again?"  
"I um.. I'm new." The girl turned around in order to disappear between the dancers again.  
Too hasty.  
She was just passing between Mabel and Wirt, when she tripped over her dress and fell down. The mask broke with a a smacking sound.  
"Are you alright?" Wirt held his hand out to help her up. Apparently she wasn't hurt but her cheeks were red and her eyes frightened.  
Wait! Cheeks? Eyes?  
Wirt blinked in confusion. "Why aren't you a skeleton?"  
Mabel said nothing.  
"I .. I" The girl got a tick more reddish. (If that was even possible.)  
There was a small circle of onlookers forming around them now and even the great pumpkin seemed to have taken interest in what was going on.

The air was buzzing from lowered voices. _"Who is that? How long has she been here?"-_ "Hey, stop stressing her like that!" Mabel said loud enough for everyone to hear her. "And who are you?" The gigantic one asked her.  - "Mabel Pines."

Meanwhile, the non-skeleton girl used the moment of distraction to slip away from the centre of the room. The people in the way murred but let her pass.

"Well, you can't tell us what to do, Mabel. You don't belong here." He admired, how she didn't shy back.  
"You on the other hand." It bowed towards Wirt. " Are you sure you still don't want to join us?  No pressure but" - "I can't.  Although I would possibly like to.  
I really don't know anymore."

 

* * *

 

This wasn't possible.  
All of the houses were actually empty. Was this a ghost town?  
He gazed at a turkey, staring back from behind a window, when he stepped on a pumpkin. Oh great.  
Well, the one good thing about this place being abandoned was no one had actually seen him.. "Hey you! Did you just destroy city property?"  
He turned around to find a girl standing there.  
"Um.. no?"  Absolutly no one was around, so why hadn't he heard her coming?  
An impish expression appeared on her face. "If they find out, they are going to burry you alive." - "Seriously?"  
"No. At least not really alive."  
Why did everyone around here seem to have such an odd sense of humour?

"I guess you're with Wirt. You know, the awkward guy with the pointy hat." He nodded and gestured into the direction of the barn.  
"Hmm. Speaking of awkward."  
They were just around the corner when Wirt and Mabel came towards them. And something else.  
"Is that a walking skeleton?" -"Yup. Apparently they all are, around here." Mabel answered. "Hm, that's weird. Haven't read of that one before," he shrugged.  
  
Wirt seemed baffled by his reaction. "What's wrong with the two of you? You shouldn't take strange things this lightly." Only then, he seemed to fully notice the girl. "Beatrice?"  
Dipper looked at her again in an attempt to fit the name to the face. She was a few years older than himself. Her hair was red and when she spoke her lips.." - "Hello? Earth to Dipper?" His sister waved a hand in front of his face. She smiled over at Wirt and the girl. "We'll need a moment here." - "Good." Beatrice dragged Wirt into the opposite direction. "So do we."

"We have gone through this whole Wendy disaster more than enough times now. Please. Stop it before it even starts." Dipper crossed his arms. "Fine. But it was completely needless of you to mention it. It's not like I'm immediately crushing on every redhead I see. " - "Sure, " she sighed. " There is.. one more thing. "

"What is it?" - "The man yesterday warned me about him." Her head gestured over to the place where the two others had disappeared to. "We don't now anything about him so maybe we shouldn't trust him." Dipper pulled the book out of his backpack and placed his hand on the one Ford had glued onto the cover. His finger were way smaller than his grand unkle's.  
"Trust no one." he mumbled.

 "Hey! We can always trust each other. Mystery twins?" She held a fist out. "Mystery twins." He lifted his hand off the book and gently bumped it.  
"Do you think Bill trapped us here, somehow?"  
"It seems like something he would do.. If he did we will find a way out of this place and stop Bill."

He looked over at the place where the others had disappeared to. " I wonder what they are talking about."

 

* * *

 

"What are you doing here?"

Beatrice gave him a sour look. "I couldn't just leave you alone with them, could I? " She glanced back to check if the siblings were somewhere to be seen. (They were not.)  
"I feel kind of responsible because I told you. What are your plans?"

Wirt  bit his lip. "I don't really know yet.. I thought I would take them futher into the woods and then see how things go... Why are you looking at me like that?"  
"You've never sunken this deep." He tried not to sound angry instead of hurt. "Well, there are only a few edelwood trees left. What am I supposed to do?"  
"Do you really want to play that game forever?" - "Say, on whose side are you?"

He knew that he had upset her before the sentence was finished.  
"Do you even listen to yourself? This isn't about picking sides. It's about me making sure you don't do anything you'll regret later on."  
 He gave her a moment to calm down. "So, what do you suggest?" She seemed to be reflecting. "I thought we could ask Auntie Whispers for help..." - "Really? Search the witch? That's still the best idea you could come up with?"  
"Look. You are not going to go through with this. There is another solution and we will find it, okay? Just give us some time."  
He shrugged, heading back to the twins. "We will need some patience either way."

When they heard the two of them approaching, the twins fell silent and turned their heads.

"There has been a change of plans. Beatrice is coming with us. She has an idea on how to help you, she can explain on the way.  
I'd really like to hear some details as well."

 

* * *

  
She didn't want to leave.  
Potsfield had been such a good hiding place. Friendly "people" and empty houses to sleep in.  
Long after the four kids had left, the girl still stood on the hill. Looking down at the houses.  
But what if she just got an other costume and headed back in? Were they warned now? More suspicious?

It was completely dark. The wind blew over the sound of the music and the smell of the fire they were currently dancing around.  
For one  momet, going back really felt like an option.  
Then she noticed a new humming in the air. It was a darker tune and it wasn't coming from the town but from the woods.

When she turned, she saw it.  
It wasn't coming closer but it wasn't moving any further, either.

Two glowing circles between the trees.  
Form the distance you could almost mistake them for the lights of a car. The girl, however did not. (And it was not just because she had never seen a car before.)  
"Alright, I'm already gone," she whispered.  
Time to head on.  


 The wind blew the deep humming across the hill, where it melted into a different, strange melody with the singing from the townspeople.

 Somewhere between the branches, a single blackbird was listening.

 


	3. Children's stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “There seemed to be no end to this wood, and no beginning, and no difference in it, and, worse of all, no way out”  
> -Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows -

"I can't believe I'm really doing this."  
Although Ford had said these words out loud, Stan wasn't sure whether he was talking to him or just murmuring his thoughts.  
Apparently he wasn't expecting an answer either way.  
A few hours had gone by since the kid's disappearance and Stan had spent them searching all the places he knew they were drawn to.  
On the way he got some of the creatures from the woods and around to help him search. (Turns out he had encountered quite a lot of them over the years.)  
Somewhere between searching the museum and the pool, the library and the diner, his anger had subsided and made space for pure worry.  
What happened to them? How long until he had to call their parents and what was he supposed to say? _"Sorry I lost your children. On the bright side though, your shady uncle was never dead. I just faked that.._." They'd better find them fast.  
  
Back at the shack his brother was hanging some strange looking grid over the bottomless pit, his notes strayed all over the ground around him. Then he started drawing something that looked suspiciously like a summoning circle around it. Stan felt a sudden nostalgia for a simpler time, when science and dark woo do had been two clearly separable things.  
"And this is supposed to be safer than the portal?" - "The portal could rip our world apart. This is completely safe as long as we stay out of the circle and on our property.  
And in the case of an emergency, I still have this weapon that can destroy him." He pointed over at his bag.  
"What could possibly go wrong then?"  
  
It started with a wind rising up from the debts of the pit.  
The wind came with a swirl of pages pressing through the grid. (Were these the tax reminders he had only dumped there last week?)  
At first they just tumbled through the air but before falling again, they started forming a shape. Within the blink of an eye the inside of the form showed up.  
"Well, hello six fingers. Wouldn't have thought you'd ever call me again. What gives me the pleasure?"  
He tried to move away but seemed somehow unable to leave the area of the grid. At least that seemed to work.  
"The children, Bill! Where are they? What did you do to them?"  
Stan, who kept in the background, noticed his shape wasn't yellow as usual but constantly changing between different pictures of landscapes. Almost like switching through the channels of a TV screen.  
"Oh, nothing." Bill took on a colour that was neither black nor white... or anything really. Only looking at it made Stan feel deeply uncomfortable. "So that's what nothing looks like," he thought.  
"It was them who somehow interfered with my plans by dissapeaearing. As much as their pathetic attempts to stop me tire me, I need at least the shooting star's power. I'm searching. They are not gone, but they are not here either."  
  
The pictures continued changing. When Stan focused fully on the images, it was like being sucked right into them.  
  
_He was at the bottom of the sea, trying to get up. Trying to get loose from this prison and whatever was there with him. Whatever was scaring him._  
  
_Then he was in the middle of a seemingly endless desert, where giant soldiers passed him by. One of them let out a battle cry and he felt nothing but indifference._  
  
_The next moment he was drifting through space. Further and further away, panically hitting random buttons on a key board. "Hello? Can you hear me, commander? I think the signal just.."_  
  
"Whoops! Never mind that." The demons body was back at it's usual colour. Stan felt confused and relived at the same time like after waking up from a nightmare.  
"Too many people stuck in the wrong part of the multiverse lately. Must be some kind of  a trend. Anyway. It's only a question of time. I will find them."  
He tried to push through the force field one more time.  
"You want them back. I sort of want them back. I've momentary lost their track but.." - "No thanks." Ford pulled at a wire, so the grid deflated and the shape dissolved again.  
  
Then he started walking up and down with both hands on his back. "In other words, Bill has no idea what's going on either. This is even stranger than I thought."  
(This time he was definitely talking to himself, Stan decided.)  
"Hey, Stanley." He remembered his presence. "You said you've got help from some forest creatures?" - "Yes."  
"Good. Please tell them to keep looking. I still hope they are just trapped in an alternative dimension but we should be prepared for anything.  
Finding them here could mean.. well it wouldn't be good."  
"I will check the places I haven't searched yet." Were there any? He wondered to himself.

* * *

"What are you writing there?" Dipper almost dropped the journal over the railing of the ferry.  
When he saw it was only her, he relaxed again. "Just a few things I noticed about this world."  
"Like what?" Mabel turned to the stage. "Bassoon playing frogs?" - "No. More like the way people dress for example. I mean they all look like they come from different eras. It's a bit like a costume party where the only instruction was to wear something old fashioned.  
And then of course there is Wirt dressed as I don't know what from I don't know which era."  
  
Mabel looked down at herself. "All I know is I've been wearing the same, stupid sweater for days now and it doesn't help at all, how cute it is."  
"What's up with you lately?" - "You have to ask that?" She still watched the stage where one of the frogs actually started to sing in human words.  
"We have no idea how things are at home. For all we know it could be the apocalypse going on and it's all my fault, because I gave Bill the rift. "  
She leaned a bit further back. The air was still warm from the day and you could almost think it was late summer. On the main deck the frogs had paired up now and circled each other.  
It looked like a scene from a children's book. "The Wind in the Willows" maybe. She was almost a teenager now and shouldn't wish she could crawl up inside a children's book. She should feel ready to face... whatever growing up meant.  
"And even if we do make it out of here and everything is fine, that only means you get to stay with Ford while I have to go to high school." - "Mabel.."   
"At first I just wanted to go home, but now.. I mean sure this place is creepy, but so is reality. If I knew the way back I'm not even sure if I would want to take it anymore."  
"Hey, Never say that." Beatrice leaned herself onto the railing next to them. "We will make it there by tomorrow and then everything will look different already.  
  
By the way, is that your frog singing over there?" Wirt, who  joined them as well now, looked more laid back than usual. Almost like the sight of the frog calmed him down.  
"It's not my frog. I returned him here a while ago and he seems happy enough with it. Also now we don't have to pay for the ferry."  
  
Mabel watched the frogs in their surprisingly elegant movements.  
She thought about how worried Stan must be by now,  what was up with this world, and what role Bill played in all of this.  
Then she shook her head in an attempt to physically push her doubts away. "Anyone in for a dance?"

* * *

"Say, have you seen four children passing through?"  
The tavern keeper gave her a measuring look. "How odd. You are already the second person asking today. Did you loose your friends?"  
"Yes." It was not really a lie she decided. (Her father always told her lying was bad.)  
  
The woman seemed to be waiting for something. "Come on girl, sing us your song." - "I.. uh.. don't sing."  
"Tell us your story, then. We need to know, who we give information to."  
If it meant they would tell her where they had gone, she could as well tell them. She had no intention in hiding any longer anyway, so she nodded.  
"Once upon a time," she decided to start classy. Like the stories she knew. "There was a girl living in the woods with her father." - "You have to speak louder, girl. I almost can't hear you."  
She felt almost as exposed as a few days ago in Potsfield but tried her best to speak calm and clearly. Make it a story like the old fairy tales she knew.  
  
"They had it good but the girl was curious. She wanted to know the woods around them. Every day she went a bit deeper, exploring them.  
One day she had run so far into the forest, carrying nothing but a lantern, she couldn't find her way back. The girl could not use the sun or the stars as an orientation because she couldn't spot them any longer through the treetops.  
And when she finally found a clearing, she had long forgotten what direction she came from.  
She forgot a lot of things during these days. She forgot the taste of soup and what a warm bed felt like. She always remembered that she needed to find her way back, though."  
  
The girl paused. Only now remembering everyone was still listening to her. For one moment her words stumbled.  
"Then.. uhm well.. Have you heard the stories about the whispering trees?" The tavern keeper nodded. "Of course we have heard them. They say, they decoy you further and further into the forest until you are so lost, you become one of them."  
"Yes. Like you she had heard these stories but never believed them. There were things out there scaring her and it wasn't the trees."  
Once she started talking again, the words came flowing naturally.  
  
"The girl was very scared of the dark and she didn't have any matches, so she had to keep the lantern burning day and night or otherwise it would soon become useless.  
Luckily, she knew a lot about the different kinds of wood.  
Beech burns long and warm, while soft wood is useful for constructing things but blazes fast and smoky.  
One day she reached a tree she did not know. She had always thought she knew all the trees there were in this forest but when she stopped and looked around she realised, she did not know a single one of them.  
With curiosity she inspected them. Picked some of the leafs. Knocked against the bark. She even broke a branch off and threw it into the flame of her lantern.  
"Ouch," said the tree.  
"I think you owe me one for that." The girl just stared at it. "You know, if I was like the rest of my kind I would compliment you and try to get you to stay, but I am in many ways not like that." Now she remembered the stories about these creatures and knew it would be best to simply walk away.  
Curiosity however got the best of her once again. "What do you want, then?"  
"I am a very special tree," it repeated itself. "Because you talk?" - "No. Every tree talks. People are just to ignorant to listen."  
It bowed in the wind and for one second looked like a person, bending their head in a mechanic manner.  
"I was human too once, first nosy, then lost. These trees made me one of them." A branch moved in a circle around it. "Just another part of the whispering forest.  
But one of these strange turtles died right here, beneath me and I grew over it. I think it changed me somehow. I am better now. Stronger. I still can't move from the spot, though. Once your heart has given up, it becomes stationary in it's place." In a short demonstration, the tree bowed to both sides.  
  
"That's a nice lantern you have there. It gives me an idea." An unhealthy creaking noise went through the bark and there was a crack in the tree's middle.  
"Look inside! There should be some sort of lump. Almost heart shaped.  
Yes. Break it off and throw it into the flame. You owe me that, don't you think?"  
A bit confused she did as she was told. It didn't seem to be a dangerous thing to do, after all.  
"That was easy." For one moment she turned the black object in her hand. It really looked like a heart someone had carved out of black wood. Then she opened her lantern and threw it in as well. It seemed to burn by far more slowly and warmer than any wood she had ever seen.  
As soon as the lump was gone, the tree suddenly started to loosen it's other roots from the ground.  
It rained earth around them, then two wooden arms stretched out and dazzling eyes blinked open.  
"I can move." The girl felt a little uneasy at that point. The one good thing about the whispering trees was after all that their power was limited on verbal manipulation.  
Trees don't follow you.  
She walked away. The tree followed her.  
  
"You threw the parts that held me into the fire? Give me the lantern, then." - "What? No. I need it."  
"Give me the lantern and I can show you the way." The creatures tone softened. "That's what you really want, right?"  
The girl chewed her lip. "Once we are home, I will give it to you." - "All right. But the flame mustn't go out, do you understand?"  
"I have been keeping it burning for a long time now, anyway" she shrugged.  
From there on rhe creature followed her on her way, reaching out for the lantern whenever she wasn't on the lookout. At some point she started to suspect that this one tree was in fact not so different from the other whispering ones when it came to getting you lost.  
The further she went, the deeper and more endless seemed the forest.

The woodman's daughter fastened the cape around her shoulders and got up.  
"But what happened then?" The tailor asked after a few moments of silence.  
  
She just shook her head. She wanted to say "and then they went home" and end her fairy tale with "and they lived happily ever after." (She did not because her father had told her not to lie.)  
"I don't want to say. Now, can you tell me where they were headed?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sudden reappearance of the woodman's daughter at the end has somehow always bothered me.  
> I like to think that if she wasn't the beast, at least they were strongly linked somehow. 
> 
> I meant to write a little scene with her and this story more or less happened. Feel free to rant about all the reasons why this makes no sense. :-P  
> Next chapter will be focusing on the main charas again.


End file.
